Suspected meteorite turns out to be just a big lump of coal

A suspected meteorite found by two sisters at the Jersey Shore last week is actually just a large lump of coal.

Jean and Nora Muchanic came across a rock that looked like it had been dipped in tar on Silver Beach Jan. 11 and suspected that it could be a meteorite. The sisters turned the item over to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia for testing.

Nora Muchanic posted on her Facebook page Thursday that the object was tested by chief astronomer Derrick Pitts, who determined that the object was not from outer space, but was simply a large lump of coal.